Music to our ears

I think sleep training is the hardest thing about being a parent so far. Nothing stresses me out more than getting my baby to take good naps without it being a traumatic experience for both of us. Elisabeth needs her naps to function properly.

There were a few months where she wouldn't go down for a nap without crying. I persisted in forcing naps upon her even though my anxiety levels were quite high through the whole process. No one likes hearing their baby cry in protest for 10-20 minutes before the little one finally drifts off into the land of nod.

Just a few weeks ago she started to go down for a nap without a fuss and with a big smile on her face. She has replaced her crying with something much more enjoyable - singing! Elisabeth sings herself to sleep for her naps. I started putting on some quiet kid's music and giving her a small doll to hold in her crib. Apparently the combination of these two things make her happy enough to sing away until she finally gives in to sleep.

How cute is that?

A little discretion, please

Today I stopped at a semi-fast food restaurant to pick up dinner as I had a church meeting to attend and wasn't able to make dinner. While I was waiting for them to make my kabobs, a very nice and slender woman kept smiling at me and looking at me with tenderness. I couldn't figure out what her problem was until this dredded question spilled out of her mouth:

"How far along are you?"

What?!?! How far along am I? Nevermind the fact that I am actually below my pre-pregnancy weight and can fit into the majority of my clothes again. Apparently, I must have always looked pregnant.

My reply was a terse "I am not pregnant."

Her face turned a wonderful shade of red and she looked as though she was going to throw up. Good. You should be embarrassed lady. Next time keep your small talk to yourself or use a little discretion. How depressing! Now I think I am going to open up one of our forbidden boxes of Girl Scout cookies and have a few - maybe the whole box.

Heck - If I look pregnant, I might as well stop depriving myself of the simple tasty things in life.

On Cloud Nine

A lot can change in nine months:

Elisabeth, Papa and Puppy - 2 days old.

Elisabeth, Papa and Puppy - Exactly 9 months old

Major nine-month milestone:  Stood up on her own after her nap on her 9 month birthday.

Another milestone:  Elisabeth waves "hi" and "bye"

• She went from being in the 95th percentile for weight to the 75th percentile.  I like this change, though she is still our Chunka Munka.

Our curious little explorer is crawling all over like a little speed demon, constantly using the "more" sign in sign-language at the dinner table (there is NOTHING this baby won't devour), saying "mama," "dada," "oh-oh," "na na" (her word for no), "Nona" (the nickname of her babysitter) as though she really knows what she is saying, and filling our home with happy giggles everyday.   She still has her non-perfect moments when have to resort to calling her by her first and middle name, but we can't help but love our little girl.  (Who will actually be 10 months this week.  I am a little behind with this post!)